Connect Community Village secures its home
May 25—After years of hard work and commitment, Connect Community Village has finally bought a portion of land to build their "tiny village" and a place for people to get clean and work on bettering themselves.
Focusing on veterans first, the village will operate as a communal farm, and residents will work, take classes, learn trades and skills, and even manage the general store.
"After they go through their interview process and come into the transitional housing, we will get them with an individual to see where their interest lies, where their giftedness lies, and then we will get them into an area of vocational training," said president of the village initiative Virginia Dial. "In the meantime, they'll be working on a farm where they'll learn how to do different types of things."
The village will also have a community building, a chapel, a recreational section, and opportunities for animal therapy.
"It's a place where they can get together and have their own little community," she said.
The location will also have an area open to the public where residents can build a relationship with the community.
Dial saw the need for these homes about six years ago as she performed jail ministries for her church. Jail is characterized by many as a "revolving door," and people who go there to "cure" their addiction often just find themselves back where they started.
"I just kept seeing more and more of the issues that didn't seem to be helping these people transition out of their situation," says Dial. "So I began to ask them what was the difficulties they were having in being able to successfully stay in recovery, avoid recidivism back into the jail system. And [I asked] our veterans why they could not get a foothold back in their community."
Dial hopes to work with veterans first as she feels that they can help mentor others who will reside in the village after they leave. Dial also feels that the need of veterans in Pulaski County, and the United States at large, is dire.
"We've really kind of put them on the back burner," she said. "We've got them out there just wandering, and that should never be. We should be gathering around them and supporting them and doing whatever we can now for them."
Dial added, "This is us giving back."
Dial had previously dealt with a "nimby" attitude, or "not in my backyard." People carried with them a lot of stigma for addicts, but Dial says that the neighbors at the location they've secured have been tremendously open and helpful. They've even lent farming equipment and cut hay off the land while the construction plans are being drawn up.
"We've already got an architect and engineer out there drawing up the plans," she said. "There's certain types of topography that needs to be done to see how the lay of the land is."
Sinkholes can be a problem in Pulaski County, and ensuring buildings are erected on solid ground is an important first step regardless of the project.
Speaking of neighbors, Dial says that she's gotten a lot of support and donations from others in the community.
"We're hoping to see if we can't partner with Somerset Community College and their application of 3D printing," she said
According to Dial, SCC has a program where they could possibly 3D print the tiny houses. Eric Wooldridge heads up the SCC Advanced Manufacturing 3D printing lab in the Valley Oak Technology Complex. This would both provide a cheaper solution than building and will also allow SCC to flex its technical muscles.
It's going to be a while before this community is opened for business. Still, Dial is excited to get things underway. She attributes this victory to community, and also to God.
"This is a godsend," she said. "There's no way we could have done this on our own."
